30 de março de 2012

Overkill is an American thrash metal band, formed in 1980 in New Jersey. They have gone through many line-up changes, with singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni remaining from the original lineup. Along with Anthrax (whose one-time lead guitarist, Dan Spitz, was also an early member of Overkill), the band is one of the most successful East Coast thrash metal bands. The band has a notable mascot named Chaly, a skeletal bat with a skull-like face, bony wings, and green eyes. Chaly has appeared on most of their album covers.

To date, Overkill has released 15 studio albums, 2 EPs, 2 live albums and a "covers" album. They were one of the early thrash metal bands to sign to a major label (Atlantic Records, in 1986), though Overkill would not achieve commercial success until they popularized "thrash" in the late 1980s with their contemporaries Anthrax, Exodus, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Testament. The band achieved its biggest success with their 1993 album I Hear Black, which debuted at #122 on the Billboard 200 charts, the band's highest ever chart position in the United States.

Now with the Bodog Music label, the band rejoined forces with Jonny and Marsha Zazula, previous owners of Megaforce Records, who are now part of the Bodog Team in the United States. Overkill released its 15th studio album, Immortalis, on October 9, 2007. The album featured the lineup of founders Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and D.D. Verni, guitarists Dave Linsk and Derek Tailer, and new drummer Ron Lipnicki. Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe contributed vocals on the song "Skull And Bones".

On October 30, 2009, it was reported that Overkill had inked a multi-album deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The band's next album, Ironbound — which is described as a true "thrashter-piece" — was released on February 9, 2010.

In July 2011, Overkill began demoing six songs and were planning to begin recording a new album in October for an early 2012 release. The resulting album, The Electric Age, will be released on March 27, 2012.